Hugger destroys tyre

[Si Click]

A few months ago I fitted a Powerbronze hugger to my 2011 CR.  It went on easily enough and all was well.  When the bolt holding the rear of the chainguard to the swingarm came loose, I even got to experience Richard's excellent aftercare service when he sent me a replacement free of charge.

However, on Thursday I rode to Abbey Wood in Bristol and back and when I got home I found that the LHS of the tyre had been trashed.  Picture 1.  Bearing in mind that this was a pretty new PR4, I realised that with a more worn tyre or a few more miles riding, the tyre would probably have let go in spectacular style.

This morning I removed the hugger and found that the cross bracket was now in contact with the tyre along almost its entire length, effectively acting as a blade, melting and shaving the rubber from the sidewall.  All bolts and fittings were still tight and intact, but the bracket itself was no longer the right shape to keep itself clear of the tyre.  The bike had been fine when I left Bristol, so this happened on the journey home.  I found a largish pothole on the inside carriageway of the M4, but nothing particularly alarming, certainly nothing that would lead me to suspect would cause such structural deformation.

Even if I could bend the brackets back into shape, the hugger will be staying off the bike and I will not be putting on another unless I can find one that does not have internal brackets that can deform in this way.  Is there a more rigid carbon fibre option?

In the meantime if you have a Powerbronze hugger, or any with internal brackets over the wheel - beware.


Admin note:  Powerbronze have since updated this product.

[Skids]

Sh1t Dave, that looks bad. Thank gawd yr ok.

I have a Pb...I will be keeping an eye! 

[mikie]

That's a balls . Expensive pothole!

[Greenie]

Blimey that's terrible. 

I have the Honda hugger on my 2015 bike which has no supporting brackets but I am not sure if a similar one is available for the earlier model.

It is a bit minimalistic compared with yours, made of thick black plastic, having no chain guard and attaching just via 2 bolts to the swinging arm behind the tyre.

However it seems to keep most of the crud off the shock.

Glad you are ok.

[Lampie]

My 2 cents....

Prior to the Crossrunner I had a hugger on my Suzuki, and couldn't figure out why my chainlife was so short, only 20000km max,  that was because it was combined with the chainguard, when riding in the rain, the chain got a constant shower.. all grease was washed out.
Removed the hugger and replaced the 'stock' chainguard (shape the same, but in stainless steel) and the chainlife is 34000km and stil not replaced

[Si Click]

I have had a reply from Richard at PB.  His product engineers have not unreasonably concluded that the impact between the hugger and the under-surface of the bike was due to the fitment of the top box mounting.  I have found witness marks on the upper plastic of the hugger which match the top box mount and corroborate this conclusion.  They also reasonably conclude that having a lowering kit was a contributing factor, as this reduces separation by about 10mm.  However, I do not agree with them that stiffened suspension (Nitron) also contributed; indeed, I think that this reduced the likelihood of occurrence.

My concern is that with the standard shock fitted my bike would frequently bottom out over potholes when two up.  The top box was fitted at this time, but I did not fit the hugger until after I upgraded the suspension to reduce the likelihood of the suspension bottoming out.  Had I fitted the hugger before I upgraded the suspension, the frequency of the suspension reaching full compression would mean that this event would have been far more likely to have occurred, possibly to the point of being inevitable with the bike fully loaded.

When it happened to me I was solo and the top box was empty, with softer suspension, a pillion and luggage I think that there would be a very significant likelihood of the Powerbronze hugger interacting with the top box mount with potentially fatal consequences. 

I have recommended to Richard that they conduct some trials against top box fitments and that at the very least in the meantime, they should include a warning that the product may be incompatible with some luggage mounting systems.

[Si Click]

Just ordered a hugger from Pyramid.  It uses a zip tie at the front to secure it to the swing arm rather than scaffolding and it looks neater as it does not have the somewhat pointless secondary chainguard over the existing one.

I had a carbon fibre NWS hugger on my VFR800 FiX that fitted the same way and other than replacing the zip tie a couple of times in 50,000 miles as it became worn, it was fine.

Total cost: £127 for a new PR4 (inc £10 fitting), £105 for a new hugger = £232
Potential cost: my life.
I reckon I got a bargain.

[Skids]

Originally Posted by Si Click

Total cost: £127 for a new PR4 (inc £10 fitting), £105 for a new hugger = £232
Potential cost: my life.
I reckon I got a bargain.

 

[reasty]

I've got the pyramid on mine - it's been fine but possibly the worst fitting instructions known to man

[Si Click]

Originally Posted by reasty

I've got the pyramid on mine - it's been fine but possibly the worst fitting instructions known to man

Do you mean these?
https://www.pyramid-plastics.co.uk/downloads/fitting_instructions/071091_CROSSRUNNER_2012.pdf
Apart from the vague reference to a "suspension boss" and some very unhelpful photos, they did not seem too bad.  At least it was clear that there was no unwanted metalwork.